UrbanRhetoric

UrbanRhetoric

6.24.2013

Yeezus [review]....by Charlie Mango

When “Yeezus” first sprang a leak, the internets rushed and gulped it
down. Forwarded emails, containing various links to wet transfer and
other file sharing sites, were excitedly opened to hear the new Yeezy
“Yeezus.” Like many, I downloaded it, but I didn’t listen. Nope.
Instead, I went to Twitter, the source of all news and tomfoolery, and
looked at the up to date reviews of the barely five minute old
unofficial release. And the good folks of Twitter-verse lambasted
Yeezus, throwing stone after rock towards this ten-track opus. These
one listen reviews were funny as many proclaimed that Yeezy finally
missed, ruining his streak of classic albums. As a result, naming Yeezus
the official weed plate (though at the time, no one had a physical copy
of the album) of the summer.

So I waited. I knew I wanted to experience music the only way proper
(the way one judged all albums back in the day), in my car, bumping
through my Honda factory speakers. Judge not! And I also had to listen
to it the new way, through my Beats headphones. First listen, in the
car, I was utterly confused, not sure of what I just experienced. WTF!
Where was the witty, conscious, forward thinking Kanye from “Late
Registration?” Were all these songs going to have that
Euro-Chicago-House-Funk-Guitar-Techno-Drum sound as the musical
backdrop? To be fair, I was too distracted by my own expectations of
what I wanted the album to be and didn’t hear it.

But I kept listening! Then after about 5 listens spread over 24 hours. I
put it away…for a week. Then I listened again, before penning this
review, and found myself challenged to engage with artistry that
redefines and bucks tradition.

“Yeezus” opens with a distorted sound and “On Sight” begins with Kanye
rapping and condemning rumors, music, and fashion, while throwing in a
funny, and insensitive Parkinson’s line (shout out to Michael J. Fox
though). And then in the middle of the song, he proves just how much he
does not give a fcuk with a soulfully synthesized gospel choir crooning,
“He’ll give us what we need/It may not be what we want.” And just like
that, Kanye positions this album to be what we, the consumers, the
audience needs, even if we want something completely different like
ummm…say the old ‘Ye.

The second track, Black Skinhead, with its infectious, rebellious bounce that only Kanye could disguise call hip hop, emphasizes Kanye’s blackness and media’s portrayal of blackness (remember the Vogue cover with Lebron, gripping some white woman Gisele
Bundchen a la King Kong). He also takes shots at the Catholics and
conservative Baptists, while bringing attention to the many endangered
youth in Chiraq. Race, religion, current events…Kanye still a conscious
rapper or nah?

Track three, “I am god” begins the inclusion of specifically placed
reggae clips, the meaning of each inclusion somehow fits like a jigsaw
puzzle piece…and works. The drums dominate this track, highlighted by
Kanye’s brief conversation with Jesus, four random screams, and a broken
Spanish phrase that somehow leads to a mafia reference. So hip-hop of
you, Ye! The following track, “New Slaves” sounds better each time I
hear it, especially his desire to “be a dick than a swallower” and his
resistance to control, notably named here as the DEA and CCA (industrial
prison complex anyone?).

“Can’t Hold My Liquor” features a mature and drunk sounding Chief Keef
on the chorus, which once again touches on the tense subject of control
in relationships, mixed with more random screaming. The second half of
the album begins with “I’m in It,” in which Kanye fights against
traditional methods of making love, instead opting for no rules and
fisting (power to the people…I guess). He also shares his concerns and
worries about fatherhood and suggests that he needs to sleep with the
nightlight to protect him from his demons. Here, Kanye blatantly voices
his desire to begin a new movement, a new religion, one that will define
his time, but only on his accord. Random, but I definitely want the
Rosetta Stone set on Swag-hili as a birthday gift this summer.

“Blood on Leaves” and “Guilt Trip” find a more introspective Kanye, as
he laments lost love and his societal death. With borrowed Nina Simone
vocals, we witness Kanye’s crucifixion, his sacrifice of love and
normalcy for fame and subsequent riches. The heavy drums add emotion as
he raps that what he wants, he can’t buy. Somehow, while poking fun at
second-string hoes, he mentions apartheid, abortion, unholy matrimony
(bound to someone for the kid’s sake), and alimony. Again, we see his
fight with control, tradition, and monogamy. The latter song sounds like
an 808 and Heartbreaks-esque track, with another reggae sample that
proclaims that folk don’t have the guts to spray the SK (read: gun;
symbolically read: truth). Here, Kanye aims and shoots at himself,
proclaiming himself guilty of his love for trios, while including funny
lines about Shabba, Big Poppa, Chewbacca, and the number one Chief
Rocka.

The album closes with two standout tracks, “Send It Up,” which could
make any hip hop dance floor tilt with its booming sirens, which baps in
tune with your mandatory head nod. King L, another Chicago rapper, like
Chief Keef, sounds great on this feature, with his line, “both suck
like they came to lose,” stealing the shine. Then Ye hops on the beat,
like the blurry Youtube clip of Prince entering a venue on his
bodyguard’s back. The fun continues when Ye tells a lady friend, who
wants his assistance to help her friends get into the club, to treat
them like his Benz and have them park their asses outside. The real
kicker is the end of the song, when Yeezus rose again. Initially thought
to reference his penis, the Beanie Man, “Memories” chorus reminds the
audience that Yeezus died a song or two ago and this could his
ascension. Remember the old Ye!

The jewel of Yeezus, the final track, “Bound 2” finds the old Ye
rapping over a soul-filled beat, aided by the ageless Charlie Wilson. In
the song, Kanye raps about his confliction with being bound to someone
or something. Like all men eventually realize, one good woman is worth
more than a thousand hoes. Yet, the struggle to accept the fact accents
Kanye’s witty lyrics, hoping that his future partner makes it to the
“church steps, but first, learns to forget” all his past indiscretions
and silly salacious stories from singledom. At no other point in the
entire album does Kanye reconcile his desire to buck control, then now,
when he commands, “just grab somebody” and be bound to them, willingly
allowing himself to be held.

For ten tracks, Kanye takes our expectations, society’s box of hip hop
in particular, and stomps on it with an anger, disgust, and care,
seeming melding his last two albums, 808s and Heartbreaks and My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, into a genre bending project that
necessitates multiple listens to hear the intricacies, failings, and
desires that are woven together by a wide array of influences, including
a Hungarian rock band. Kanye continues to push himself as an artist to
find whatever it is he needs. Thankfully, he does not seem to find it on
Yeezus, which means there will be more music to come.

1 comment:

Good review. After the album leaked I dl'd & listened to it. I stan hard for 'ye and already loved it because as you said, he is pushing himself as an artist. And I do believe a lot of the backlash was because most people wanted more soul/hip-hop vs. the electronic sound he had going on, but just like 808's & MBDTF it does require multiple listens. I think his albums/music/messages have multiple layers and in order to get them you have to keep listening. But I am a 'Ye-Stan, so maybe I am just biased.

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UrbanRhetoric is written mostly by pemora with some help by her rad friends (IMTHATDUDE, Paj1, DOUGH, jayare20k, MissDTM, Charlie Mango). They all have a love/hate relationship with pop culture. If you want to read more and/or would like to contribute, follow us on Twitter. Holler.